I found this piece really fitting for the research that I conducted this semester about the intertwining of sports and politics. Herschel Walker is running against incumbent Raphael Warnock in the state of Georgia. Normally, being an incumbent gives a huge advantage in the next election and going up against someone with no political experience one would not expect this race to be this close. However, the race has come down to a runoff election that will occur this Tuesday and this can partly be attributed to the fact that Herschel Walker was a football star at the University of Georgia. The article mentions how sports, especially in the south, are a huge part of culture and the fact that Walker was such an incredible athlete at the massive state University it has greatly benefitted his election efforts. I think this is such a cool example of how sports and politics build off each other, the importance of popularity in elections and the perception of the citizens voting is so critical and the positive reputation of Herschel Walker from being an incredible running back at Georgia has proven to be a massive positive factor in his campaign. Even people that aren’t old enough to have watched him play know who he is as the article interviewed two 23 year old men who said they are going to vote for Walker again in the runoff election. Walker’s team has done an excellent job of emphasizing his greatness on the football field and they will bring it up one more time by hosting his runoff election celebration night at the College Football Hall of Fame. It is fascinating to see that even though being a good athlete has nothing to do with being a good politician it has made this race so close. It makes me think if Walker wins we will see more retired athletes run for positions in the government.
Reading: https://www.al.com/politics/2022/12/in-georgia-how-sports-explain-a-political-battleground.html?outputType=amp